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Specks, Blues, and Dolphins at Rudee (5-16 and 5-17)

We've had some outstanding weather here in Hampton Roads, since the end of the latest cold snap and it's been HOT!! I think yesterday was at or near the 90's with mild winds. The water clarity is beginning to improve and as the water temperatures increase again, more fish are continuing to be caught.

On the first day, I tried mixing things up by trolling a dead bait in addition to my soft plastics to encourage a large Blue to eat up. I felt the rod go thump, thump and heard the reel begin to sing, but just like that it was over and I was left with a half eaten bait. I added a trailer hook on the next one, but I think the Blues may have been discouraged by this.

On the second day, I stuck with more familiar trolling and casting tactics and a variety of jig head weights to search for the fish in the water column. I ended up hooking into a double right off the bat, but I only landed one of them. I trolled around for awhile on the incoming tide and hooked up into a few Specks and then later tried casting for Reds, when the tide came up higher. I took some time to go out to the beach for a little bit and saw some dolphins, which was a treat!

I saw a pretty big Red fish that was dead and rotting in the marsh, which was surprising to see. The crabs were hard at work there.

thanks for the video and report! have you trolled dead bait before? ive wondered about doing that, considering captains troll rigged ballywho off shore for example. why not try it inshore?

Yeah I've trolled dead baits previously. The key for me seems to be going slow enough to keep it from spinning. I've seen some different rigging styles that are supposed to help with the spinning, such as using a jig head from the bottom. I usually use live bait if I can find it, but sometimes I'm on a bit of a time crunch.

I usually stick to similar tactics when I fish Rudee, so I've been trying something new every few trips for some learning experience.